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The Beauty that is Graffiti

Write an essay about the graffiti€¦€¦€¦€¦€¦€¦€¦€¦

Answer:

Grafficar (singular for graffiti) is an Italian word which can be connected to the Greek words grapheion or graphion. The two Greek words derive themselves from the word graphein which means to write. It is generally accepted that the word graffiti refers to markings, drawings scribbles, or paintings on a surface. In short it is a form of art (which as we all know, is a form of expression). When a person talks of graffiti in our current age, negative emotions are spurred. I fail to understand why this is the case. From the beautiful art that resurrected itself in the 1960’s: it has come to be associated with vandalism or worse yet, unpleasant images.
The earliest form of graffiti can be dated back to approximately 30,000 BC in the form of prehistoric cave paintings. It was also witnessed in Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. This helps to put across the fact that graffiti is not a modern form of art; it is as ancient as history itself. To be fair I can classify it amongst the great works of famous painters: Leonardo, Monet, and Picasso to be precise. Let us just be realistic for a moment and try asking ourselves; if any of the recognized artists was to paint on the walls of our houses, would we consider the drawing as graffiti? According to me I would not, in fact I would consider it to be a masterpiece. Why then should we not respect graffiti as we know it today? There are a number of reasons for this negative perception of graffiti.
For every action, they say, there is an equal reaction. Every idea has got its own elastic limit. Let me give an example; when the gun was first invented, was it meant for killing? The famous AK-47 was in fact intended for hunting purposes! But look what people have over the years turned it into: a killing machine! But, that is not reason enough to say that the AK-47 is the worst form of a gun and that it should be shunned. On the contrary, if placed in good hands it helps in maintaining world peace. The same can be said about graffiti. I do not dispute the fact that graffiti has fallen prey to monsters along the way. In fact it has earned the evil art tag from the same monsters who have decided to transform the beautiful art into what I may call a Beautiful Monster. The term Beautiful Monster may seem a little bit weird I know, but look at it this way; graffiti has been linked to other types of crime and the escalating level of criminal behavior as well as facilitating the spread of gangs. In addition, a property that contains the graffiti always decreases in value. These markings on the walls are mostly done without the owner’s approval: it is a well known fact that such intrusion has had negative impacts on businesses and it has contributed in reduced investments in areas where such is practiced. With the onset of the 21st Century, it is very uncouth to have racist ideas. Such has not been the case with some graffiti artist. They have seen to it that they shout their racist ideas in such a beautiful way. Very sad isn’t it? The effects of such graffiti in a mixed racial community is profound, it may make others feel unwanted in a particular community. This should not be the case however. The cost of cleaning the graffiti €“particularly in unwanted areas- is not borne by the artist; the owner of the premise has to use extra money to clean up the mess created on their premise.
It does not mean that graffiti has no beautiful side. It is an art just like any other art. Therefore it is a form of expression. No one can deny that a painting is very relaxing to look at: but so is graffiti. A nicely drawn picture of a beautiful lady for instance is inspiring. Graffiti can be used to further a political agenda especially in a region where freedom of speech is not guaranteed. During the 1970’s the Anarcho-punk band Crass conducted an anti-war, anarchist, feminist and anti-consumerist around the London Underground. Political groups can and have used graffiti to spread their point of view. Graffiti has been used to as an advertising tool. The hip-hop culture has embraced graffiti a lot in its music, in fact it has helped spread the graffiti culture to other parts of the world and this has encouraged cohesion of some sort. The business aspect of graffiti is immense, it has helped artist who had no other means of earning a decent living. The hip-hop culture has brought with it customization of cars. One of the main things that it deals with €“apart from the mechanical aspects- is the aesthetic value of the car. This is achieved by beautiful drawings on the body of the cars. Graffiti art is not easy as the artist has to use lots of imagination to bring about something that is both beautiful and very unique.
If we look at the picture that I have chosen to illustrate my point with I think the beauty and passion of graffiti comes out very clearly. The picture on the wall shows two children who have painted a beautiful beach picture on the walls of a war torn Palestine. The smiles on the children faces can be deceiving: this is not what they undergo every day. Just in front of the wall, we have a perimeter fence €“primarily to restrict movement- of the Palestine within their land. Graffiti is hard to understand, it requires an analytical mind. What comes from the picture is a wish of two boys who picture happiness. They do not want to be tied up in the prison that is war. The peace and tranquility of life is their main concern. They just want to let everyone know that they belong to that land; that happiness can be shared. There need not be a barrier to how much happiness there is beyond the slavery of the perimeter fence. A person may also argue that, the children are seeing beyond the fence. They are saying that, maybe you have succeeded in enclosing us with this fence; however, you have not enclosed our minds. We can live beyond our physical barriers. If you take a closer look, you may associate the drawing as a peek into what is on the other side of the wall. They may think that they have taken everything from them, but there is still more that the land has to offer. Isn’t that a beautiful way of expressing how committed the Palestine nation is to saying that they belong to the land? What a beauty is graffiti.
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